WASHINGTON — House Democrats on Friday night approved a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill, advancing the measure after days of wrangling and over the objections of the party’s conservative and liberal members alike.
The legislation passed 208-199, with only one Republican supporting it. Fourteen Democrats voted against it, but passing the House bill was the easy part.
Even as the virus’s death toll and economic damage rise, opposition to trillions of dollars in new spending is swiftly hardening on the political right. That makes the House Democrats’ bill all but dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled Senate and marks an end to the short-lived era of quick, bipartisan compromise on massive federal spending to shore up the economy and fight the pandemic.
“The easy agreements are over,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office who also advised Republican Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. “It’s going to be harder now.”
All about who got the loot and who will not now.
Economists across the political spectrum are worried that the political gridlock at a critical time could have grave consequences for an economy that is still in free fall.
It's collapsing quicker than a WTC tower.
“What’s at stake for the economy is people and businesses not being able to pay their bills, which results in businesses shutting down and jobs disappearing forever,” said Brian Riedl of the libertarian-leaning Manhattan Institute, a self-described deficit hawk who nevertheless called for extending unemployment benefits and aid to cash-strapped cities and states.
In March and April, Democrats and Republicans came together fairly quickly to pass four relief bills totaling about $3 trillion to respond to the crisis, and even deeply conservative groups like the Club for Growth stayed neutral on the biggest of those measures.
“You see a very different sentiment now,” said David McIntosh, the group’s president.
The Democrats’ new bill is a sprawling, 1,800-page measure that includes $1 trillion in aid to state and local governments, something that Republican governors like Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Larry Hogan of Maryland have been pushing as have Democratic governors.
They may as well switch parties at this point.
The legislation would also send a new round of $1,200 stimulus checks directly to many Americans, allocate billions of dollars to the struggling postal service, and provide money for food assistance and for rental assistance.
When the bill was released this week, Republicans immediately derided it as a Democratic wish list. They seized on the number of times it contains the word “cannabis” (68) — including for provisions that would help marijuana businesses with access to banking and to study diversity in the industry — and assailing a provision that extends direct cash relief to undocumented immigrants who pay taxes, but Republican leaders have also exhibited a general reticence about additional spending and an inclination to take more time before putting their own measure together.
Last week, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters that formal negotiations on the next round of relief won’t begin until the end of the month at the earliest. Senate Republicans say they are more interested in passing legislation to shield businesses that reopen from liability.
“We’ve added about $3 trillion to the national debt, and [are] assessing the effectiveness of that before deciding to go forward,” Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday. He also told reporters this week that he did not “think we have yet felt the urgency of acting immediately.”
Democrats immediately seized on those comments.
“The need for swift action for the American people has not come to an end,” said Representative Katherine Clark of Melrose, who is a member of House Democratic leadership.
The coronavirus has unleashed intense partisanship around the country, especially in recent weeks, as President Trump urges states to lift economic restrictions. The spending impasse is the latest example of lawmakers digging in.
As lawmakers debated the bill on Friday, some Republicans chatted on the House floor without wearing masks — and at one point, Representative Ted Yoho of Florida told reporters there was “no need” to wear one, but the disagreement over spending is also tied to the a partisan split over whether the nation should keep the economy shuttered as it fights the virus, or open it back up, as many states are starting to do.
“There is not the bipartisan consensus to shut down for an additional three months and thus reimburse all the victims of the shutdown,” Riedl said.
Representative Daniel Meuser of Pennsylvania said the data showed “we can now begin a safe, soft reopening of our economy,” and Representative Michael Guest of Mississippi said the Democrats’ bill would discourage people from returning to work, but Democrats said Republicans are downplaying the seriousness of the nation’s continued crisis.
“I feel like we’re in the twilight zone,” said Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts. “Unemployment is the highest level since the Great Depression. This is a big challenge that we’re faced with and requires a big response.”
He is my piece of puke, although I did not vote for him.
Democrats themselves were at odds with the bill, too. Democrats in swing districts, like Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, said they plan to oppose it, while progressives complained it didn’t go far enough.
She is one of those CIA Democrats, and how do they expect to win anything when they can't agree on anything?
“I will say that the progressives have been pushing very hard on making sure we have some health care expansion, making sure we have a wage guarantee for workers, making sure we have affordable housing,” said Representative Ro Khanna of California. “We’re not meeting the moment in terms of the boldness of leadership.”
Economists said that, for the time being, the biggest danger lies in not acting soon enough. Earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested Congress would need to appropriate more money for relief.
He isn't talking pennies, either.
“Additional fiscal support could be costly, but worth it if it helps avoid long-term economic damage and leaves us with a stronger recovery,” Powell said, and liberal economists say the situation is getting more dire by the day.....
Who does Jess Bidgood go talk to?
Jared Bernstein, an economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and former Obummer flak.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi exited the House chamber of the US Capitol Friday (OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images).
Why do I now feel the need to wash my hands?
"Purell’s claim to combat disease spurs demand — and lawsuits" by Bob Van Voris and Gerald Porter Jr. Bloomberg News, May 15, 2020
Everyone’s favorite hand sanitizer may have to stand trial for claiming it can stop you from getting sick.
A trio of lawsuits has hit Purell’s maker, Gojo Industries Inc., since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency on Jan. 30. The coveted alcohol gel doesn’t live up to its promises, according to the suits.
The litigation is brewing as states begin to ease their social-distancing lockdowns — and as employers, preparing to greet anxious returning workers and customers, are desperate for the germ-killing liquid. Gojo, of Akron, Ohio, is already working round the clock to meet the demand for its star product, which has been a rare sight on store shelves in the past few months.
The consumers in the three suits Gojo faces are asking to represent nationwide classes of Purell purchasers who say they were misled by boasts that the product prevents illness by killing germs.
Wouldn't be the first time sales were goosed over a fake panic.
Sales of hand sanitizer were up 23 percent in the week that ended March 28 from the same period a year earlier, and up 378 percent in the week that ended May 2, according to data from market research firm Nielsen.
The products are almost out of stock at many mass retailers, with rampant price-gouging on Amazon and EBay. In some cases, vendors raised the price of a two-pack of two-ounce Purell bottles, which normally sells for $10, to $400. Dwindling inventories have even prompted consumers to produce their own sanitizers from vodka or rubbing alcohol.
Now it’s up to the judges to decide whether one or more of the cases can go forward as class actions, on behalf of many consumers, rather than just for the handful of plaintiffs.
Kay Van Wey, a Dallas lawyer who represents people harmed by medical malpractice and defective drugs, called class actions “a good consumer safety tool.”
“Individuals are able to band together to call out deceptive or fraudulent business practices,” Van Wey said. “Even though each individual consumer may not have incurred large damages, the collective damages usually amount to a figure that makes it unprofitable for corporations to profit off of their deceit.”
That's the AmeriKan way.
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So what else is going on behind closed doors?
"The Democratic chairmen of two House panels are scrutinizing a State Department plan to overhaul Social Security that they say unfairly takes away Americans’ entitlement benefits in exchange for a quick cash payment. Representatives Joaquin Castro, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and John Larson, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Security, sent a letter Thursday to a State Department official asking for the ‘‘complete and unredacted’’ version of the plan, a list of the individuals who contributed to it, and any other related documents. The proposal, first reported by The Washington Post, calls for giving Americans $10,000 upfront in exchange for curbing their federal retirement benefits, such as Social Security. The two lawmakers wrote that during this ‘‘moment of crisis,’’ the United States should be enhancing Social Security, ‘‘not developing policies to reduce benefits.’’ The policy proposal, known as the Eagle Plan, is one of the options that has circulated in the Trump administration to address concerns about the ballooning national debt due to massive federal spending to combat the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus outbreak. ‘‘The idea that you would ask individual Americans to sell out their hard-earned retirement security as the price of desperately needed help during a crisis is unacceptable,’’ they said. The letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, was sent to undersecretary Keith Krach. A State Department spokeswoman said that ‘‘we do not comment on congressional correspondence.’’ The Eagle Plan is unusual in that it originated from the State Department, an agency responsible for creating and implementing foreign policy, not domestic policy. A copy of the plan obtained by the Post says it was written by Paul Touw, chief strategy officer to Krach. Krach is close to Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a senior adviser. Kushner and Krach traveled together in January on the presidential delegation to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland."
That is also where they decided to hatch the COVID-19 Planned-emic, and I wonder how were the hookers:
"Swiss politicians have decided that sex workers can soon get back to business while activities and sports involving close physical contact such as judo, boxing, and wrestling will remain prohibited. Prostitution is legal in Switzerland and can resume June 6, along with cinemas, nightclubs, and public pools, the government announced this week. Yet sports and activities that involve ‘‘close and constant’’ physical contact will continue to be forbidden. In announcing the new measures affecting an estimated 20,000 sex workers, Swiss Health Minister Alain Berset acknowledged the apparent contradiction. ‘‘There are certainly personal contacts but a concept of protection seems possible. I am well aware of the bizarre aspect of my answer,’’ he told a news conference. Switzerland has dramatically slowed its COVID-19 infection rate. New reported cases of infections in the country of 8.5 million were below 20 per day this week."
Speaking of the State Department:
Pompeo fires State Dept. watchdog critical of Trump moves
Top Democrats launch investigation into late-night firing of the State Department inspector general
The Washington Compost tells me the investigation will be led by Representative Eliot Engel, Democrat of New York, and Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey.
Pompeo refuses to say why he wanted inspector general fired
He pleaded the Fifth.
"Democratic leaders in Congress announced Friday that three committees were calling top State Department officials to be formally interviewed in an expanding investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his role in the sudden firing by President Trump this month of the department’s inspector general. Congressional aides said they learned Linick had been investigating Pompeo and his wife. The committees plan to interview officials with knowledge of Linick’s investigations and how those might have influenced Pompeo’s recommendation that Trump fire him, they said. Pompeo has come under scrutiny for political and personal activities carried out using taxpayer funds because one of Linick’s investigations focused on whether Pompeo had asked State Department employees to carry out personal tasks for him and his wife. A second investigation by Linick examined whether Pompeo and other top administration officials acted illegally in declaring an “emergency” last year to bypass a congressional freeze on arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have carried out a devastating air war in Yemen. Raytheon is a main exporter of the weapons."
They are part of the fundamental $hift in the economy, and even GOP senators are saying the White House response on IG firings insufficient.
Obviously, with no leader, the commission overseeing virus relief has struggled after the $$$ is already gone.
"The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily prevented the House of Representatives from obtaining secret grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. The court's unsigned order keeps previously undisclosed details from the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election out of the hands of Democratic lawmakers at least until early summer. The court will decide then whether to extend its hold....."
"Three leading House Democrats said Tuesday they plan to open an investigation into the replacement of the Transportation Department’s acting inspector general, concerned that the move was tied to an ongoing investigation of Secretary Elaine Chao’s dealings with the state of Kentucky. Chao is married to Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, and has faced questions about whether her department has given preferential treatment to projects in the state. On Friday, President Trump named Howard ‘‘Skip’’ Elliott, the head of a pipeline safety agency, as acting DOT inspector general. Mitch Behm, the department’s deputy, had been filling that role....."
Let's get over to that wing of the Capitol for a while:
John Ratcliffe, Trump’s pick for top intelligence post, clears divided Senate panel
It was torture to get him through.
Senate approves John Ratcliffe for top intelligence job in sharply split vote
The New York Times says the final tally in the Senate was 49-44 in favor, while "separately Thursday, also in a sharply divided vote, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced the nomination of a Trump administration pick — whose nonprofit organization is being investigated for possible tax violations — to lead a federal media agency with oversight of a news service that has come under increasing criticism from Trump. The 12-10 party-line vote came after testy debate among senators over the propriety of voting on Michael Pack’s nomination to lead the US Agency for Global Media while his organization is being scrutinized by the District of Columbia’s attorney general. At one point, the committee went into a closed session at the request of Democrats so senators could speak about the nomination privately. The agency oversees Voice of America and other government funded news outlets....."
Isn't that $tate-run media?
Senate panel approves subpoena targeting Hunter Biden
I'm told "the subpoena comes as Republicans have increased their efforts to investigate the administration of former president Barack Obama — a campaign that they say is meant to uncover malfeasance in targeting then-candidate Trump for unwarranted investigation. Democrats say it is another front in a Republican campaign to rough up Biden before the election. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina wants a list of Obama administration officials who may have sought to reveal the names of Trump-connected figures in anonymized foreign intelligence dragnets — an effort that could advance a narrative that the former president and his allies conspired to inappropriately target Trump, one that Trump himself has dubbed ‘‘Obamagate,’’ but experts say that veiled names in intelligence materials are routinely ‘‘unmasked’’ by government officials who are seeking to understand the context of what they are reviewing, and that unmasking itself does not show evidence of wrongdoing....."
All has to do with what Barr found regarding General Flynn.
FBI director orders internal review of Michael Flynn case
The review is unusual, particularly because Attorney General William Barr already had commissioned St. Louis US Attorney Jeff Jensen earlier this year to examine the handling of Flynn’s case, although Wray’s move could partially placate Trump.
Respected Pentagon watchdog stepping down from post
He can't account for TRILLIONS, NYT, so WTF?
"A senior Trump administration official misused his office for private gain by capitalizing on his government connections to help get his son-in-law hired at the Environmental Protection Agency, investigators said in a report obtained by The Associated Press. The Interior Department’s Inspector General found that Assistant Interior Secretary Douglas Domenech reached out to a senior EPA official in person and later by e-mail in 2017 to advocate for the son-in-law when he was seeking a job at the agency....."
That's a BIDEN-TYPE MOVE if I ever saw one!
"President Trump and his children failed to put on hold a lawsuit brought by a group of entrepreneurs who claim they were ripped off by the family’s decade-long endorsements of a troubled multilevel marketing company on “Celebrity Apprentice.” The Trumps sought to halt the lawsuit while they appealed a ruling that denied their request to force the case into arbitration, but on Monday, US District Judge Lorna Schofield in Manhattan said such a move isn’t warranted because the family isn’t likely to win on appeal. The plaintiffs are contractually bound to arbitrate disputes with the marketing company, ACN Opportunity LLC, but the Trumps aren’t parties to those agreements and ACN isn’t a defendant in the lawsuit."
Meanwhile, the DOJ is still investigating coronavirus stock sales by Sen. Burr, but it dropped probes of Sens. Loeffler, Inhofe, Feinstein after they re$tructured the $ales.
Speaking of that committee:
"The Senate on Thursday adopted a package of surveillance reforms its backers say will help rein in abuses, following an inspector general report that found fault with the FBI’s handling of an investigation into a former Trump campaign aide. The 80-16 vote paves the way for final House passage of the bill to renew the USA Freedom Act. The House could take it up as soon as Friday. The law expired in mid-March, leaving the FBI without several surveillance tools it considers crucial. The bill had become a flash point for conservatives angry at the FBI’s handling of an investigation into a former Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page. At the same time, liberals have seen the bill as a vehicle to push for deeper surveillance reforms to protect civil liberties. The amendment requires judges with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to appoint a third-party observer in any case involving a ‘‘sensitive investigative matter’’ as long as the court does not determine it to be inappropriate."
That important item was a BRIEF at the bottom of page A2, and it's now time to get back over to the House:
"House pulls surveillance measure after Trump tells Republicans to vote no" by Nicholas Fandos and Charlie Savage New York Times, May 28, 2020
House Democratic leaders Thursday withdrew legislation that would revive expired FBI tools to investigate terrorism and espionage and add privacy protections for Americans subjected to wiretapping for national security purposes, after a fragile bipartisan compromise collapsed following an abrupt repudiation by President Trump.
The government is still doing that because the pre$$ has inferred that ended during the corrupt Obama regime?
The retreat left uncertain the fate of efforts to overhaul national-security surveillance while extending three partly expired tools that federal law enforcement officials use in such cases.
Just days ago, the bill had appeared poised to become law, after initial approval by both the House and Senate, but support for the measure among Republicans cratered after Trump intervened to urge them to reject it, and some progressives said they could not support the bill without greater privacy protections. With votes bleeding from both flanks, House leaders delayed a vote late Wednesday and then called if off altogether Thursday rather than let it fail.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who had spent much of the last 24 hours trying to salvage the measure, said the House would instead initiate negotiations with the Senate to bridge their differences before trying to clear it for Trump’s signature.
“Clearly, because House Republicans have prioritized politics over our national security, we will no longer have a bipartisan veto-proof majority,” she said in a letter to colleagues Thursday morning. “It will be our intention to go to conference in order to ensure that all of the views of all members of our caucus are represented in the final product.”
Her whole demeanor, from body language to word choice, is a real turn-off.
Our Freedoms and Liberties are simply a POLITICAL PRODUCT to be SOLD!
It is far from clear what the Trump administration wants. Trump has demonstrated little understanding of the complex details of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, and appears to be largely interested in keeping alive his grievances about the FBI investigation into whether his campaign was involved with Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election.
He doesn't need to be a genius to see that the previous regime spied on his campaign using opposition research provided by the Clinton campaign that they then sent through channels as they tried to wash their hands of it.
He tweeted Tuesday that Republicans should oppose the legislation “until such time as our Country is able to determine how and why the greatest political, criminal, and subversive scandal in USA history took place!” On Thursday, he praised Republicans for following through with an “incredibly important blockage” of legislation that would “perpetuate the abuse.”
He is right about that; Nixon only used the law enforcement and national security agencies to try and cover up private political malfeasance. The Obama regime used the tools of the state to do it.
A small part of the Russia investigation included surveillance authorized by FISA that targeted Carter Page, a former campaign adviser with close ties to Moscow. An inspector general report later uncovered myriad errors and omissions in the applications for that wiretap, and Trump has sought to undercut the legitimacy of the broader inquiry by citing the problematic wiretapping of his former aide.
That kind of FISA surveillance, however, is unrelated to the trio of partly expired FBI tools whose proposed extension is driving the legislation. They do things like permit court orders to gather business records deemed to be relevant to a terrorism or espionage investigation.
Still, the bill before Congress to extend them has become a vehicle for broader FISA reforms, including in response to the problems with the Page applications. For example, it would add layers of oversight to FISA wiretap applications by instructing judges — who normally hear from only the Justice Department when weighing such requests — to appoint outsiders to critique the government’s arguments in more types of cases, including those involving political campaigns or religious organizations, but even as Trump vents his skepticism of the government surveillance powers, Attorney General William Barr has been pushing Republicans in the opposite direction. He warned Wednesday that he would tell Trump to veto the bill because he thought it would impose too many restrictions on law enforcement and national-security authorities.
The result is a complicated spectacle of political and policy dysfunction.
Not really. Freedom has no defender but the people.
Traditionally, Democrats have tended to be somewhat more reluctant than Republicans to grant broad national security powers to the government, but here, Democrats appear to be the ones more eager to see the legislation passed.
The whole world is upside down.
That is in part because some Republicans, like Barr, would apparently rather see the tools remain expired than accept the new limits included in the bill. The operational effect of the expiration is limited because it only matters for potential investigations into new threats that may emerge.
The FBI can still use the authority to obtain court orders for ongoing cases, and it has open-ended investigations into major adversaries like the Islamic State, Russia, and China, but it is also because Trump is now suggesting that the reforms on FISA wiretaps do not go far enough, although he has not put forward any alternative. That has left it unclear what congressional Republicans actually want for the bill, other than to avoid getting crosswise with Trump.
When the House passed an earlier version of the bill in March, 152 Democrats and 126 Republicans supported it.
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I know what you are $aying: forget about the $pying, where's my money?
"House votes to extend popular small business loan program" by Erik Wassonand Mark Niquette Bloomberg News, May 28, 2020
The House voted Thursday to give small businesses financially strapped by the COVID-19 crisis more flexibility to spend forgivable loans for payrolls and expenses from the government’s popular Paycheck Protection Program.
The 417-1 vote sends the measure to the Senate, which may seek changes.
The bill’s sponsors say urgent action is needed because the eight-week period when proceeds must be spent for loans to be forgiven will begin expiring Friday for the first loan recipients after the Small Business Administration program opened April 3.
Why didn't you get this done before then?
The House measure would give companies much more time to spend the money — within 24 weeks or until the end of the year — and still qualify to have their PPP loans forgiven. Businesses would have up to five years, instead of two years, to repay money owed on a loan and could use a greater percentage of proceeds on rent and other approved non-payroll expenses.
“The true emergency period has evolved over time and this bill addresses that,” said Steve Chabot of Ohio, the top Republican on the Small Business Committee. “The flexibility that this allows America’s small businesses is going to go a long way to address the concerns we have heard time and time again.”
The Senate is expected to take up the bill next week. While House majority leader Steny Hoyer said his chamber isn’t scheduled to be formally in session next week, but it could pass a Senate-amended bill by voice vote.
Actually, a maskless Trump visited Michigan Ford plant as senators prepare for a weeklong Memorial Day break, so I don't think they will be getting to it next week.
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Related:
White House, Congress discuss ‘return to work’ bonus of $450 a week
Also see:
"President Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, was released from federal prison Thursday to serve the remainder of his sentence at home because of the coronavirus pandemic. Wearing a surgical mask and a baseball cap, Cohen arrived at his Manhattan apartment building at around 10:40 a.m. after his release from FCI Otisville in New York. He removed boxes of legal documents from the trunk of a car. A uniformed doorman at the luxury residence, not far from Trump Tower, carried them into the lobby on a luggage cart. Cohen, who pleaded guilty to tax charges, campaign finance fraud, and lying to Congress, didn’t stop to speak with reporters on the sidewalk. ‘‘I am so glad to be home and back with my family,’’ Cohen wrote on Twitter a little more than an hour after arriving home. “There is so much I want to say and intend to say, but now is not the right time. Soon. Thank you to all my friends and supporters.” Asked about Cohen’s release, Trump said he didn’t know about it and declined further comment. Cohen, 53, began serving his sentence last May and had been scheduled to remain in prison until November 2021."
Believe it or not, Trump’s company has received at least $970,000 from US taxpayers for room rentals.
Biden says he would not pardon Trump or block investigations
So he has already won, huh?
I suppose they will ride Trump out on a rail when its all over.
